Jaguars fans may be asking Santa to deliver some good news for quarterback Trevor Lawrence after he exited Sunday’s 30-12 loss to the Buccaneers with a shoulder injury.
The Jacksonville star came out of the game in the fourth quarter and did not return due to the shoulder issue, which the QB told reporters after the game occurred when he scrambled on a fourth down late in the third quarter.
The Jaguars star quarterback was diving to get the first down, and when he ran out of bounds, he landed on his right shoulder.
Lawrence originally remained in the game, but he eventually came out and was replaced by C.J. Beathard in the fourth.
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the game that Lawrence would have his right shoulder evaluated, according to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco.
“When I landed, I knew something, something was off,” Lawrence said after the game, per the Associated Press.
Lawrence later said, “It’s bothering me,” when discussing his shoulder, according to Florida Times-Union reporter Juston Lewis.
December has been a rough month for Lawrence and the Jaguars as they dropped their fourth straight game.
And, on a personal level, Lawrence has been injured in three of their four games this month.
Lawrence came into the Christmas Eve matchup having only been cleared to play on Saturday after spending most of the week in concussion protocol following a costly loss to the Ravens.
He didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday and was only a limited participant during Friday’s workout.
Before that, the Jaguars signal-caller suffered a high ankle sprain in the team’s Week 13 loss.
Lawrence finished Sunday’s loss by completing 17 of 29 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Week 16 marked the eighth time in his career that Lawrence had three-plus turnovers, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Over the past three weeks, he has coughed up the ball a total of nine times collectively (five interceptions, four fumbles).
Jacksonville, which once had a stranglehold on the AFC South lead, has fallen into a three-way tie for first with the Colts and Texans, with all three teams sitting at 8-7.
Asked after the latest defeat if he would consider the season at a crisis point, Pederson said yes.
And Lawrence expressed the need for some urgency to stem the tide.
“We look lost. No sense of urgency,” Lawrence said, per ESPN. “The list goes on and on. … So we’ve got to figure that out.
“We’ve worked hard to be in this position and we’re close to pissing it away, so we’ve got to figure it out.”
